Georgia Southern welcomes students back on campus following Tropical Storm Debby

STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) - Public Works and other Bulloch County agencies have begun the repair process on the many damaged roads across the county all while more than 4,000 students are moving into their Georgia Southern dorms at the same time.

Statesboro hotels are booked, traffic is heavy, and the sun is hot. Around Georgia Southern, students and their parents are arriving on campus.

“We are very excited and very proud,” said Javier Ramirez, Dad of Georgia Southern student.

Students and other community members came out to volunteer to help move the new students in.

“Its great being able to see people move into campus, you know seeing them with their first year jitters and whatnot...its great to see all of that,” said Ryan Whitaker, Georgia Southern student volunteer.

With all the excitement, comes the eagerness of local officials to immediately start the recovery of so many damaged roads. Just yesterday, locals were evacuating from flooded areas. Today, the work begins.

“Probably still a half a dozen bridge locations that are still closed that we haven’t gotten released from their states yet. There are a couple of paved roads that have some undermining and some pavement cave in so they are still closed,” said Dink Butler, Public Works Director.

The situation was so dire that the national guard has come to Bulloch County to assist Butlers Public Works team. Butler says that as thousands of newcomers make their way to town, people should still avoid closed roads at all costs.

“So, we are doing everything we can do to get things stabilized and make them safe but please if you are going to be out and about just be careful. Pay attention to your surroundings, watch ahead of you and make sure you don’t put yourself in danger,” said Butler.

Megan Hines, the Residence Educator says that the university opened their doors earlier in the week for students who had no other option but to move in during the storm.

“Some of our international students or some of our students were coming from afar were already kind of on their way and planning to move in, so we remained flexible and allowed for them to move in if they needed to during that time,” said Hines.

WTOC will keep you updated on the progress of road repairs in Bulloch County.

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